BioShock on PS3: Seaworthy or Sinking?

For those few PlayStation 3 owners who don’t have Xbox 360s or PCs and have somehow been able to avoid the mountains of spoilers for over a year, boy, are you in for a treat: BioShock is finally coming to your system of choice, as of tomorrow (NA–it’s been out in EU and AU since Friday). This multiple award-winning game places you in Rapture, a 1960s-era underwater city designed to allow its citizens respite from the restrictions of the above-sea-level world, “where the great would not be constrained by the small.” Of course, staying true to the lessons of most science fiction tales, these lofty aspirations have crumbled into a nightmarish realm without rules, where harvesting children and gene manipulation are necessary for survival. Yet the question on every PS3 owners’ mind is most likely, “What additions have they made to the game that I can hold over my Xbox-owning friends’ heads?”

Unfortunately, the answer to that question is “not much.” Despite the PS3’s arguably superior processing power, the graphics seem to be relatively identical; side-by-side comparisons are almost indistinguishable. In an interview with videogamer.com, senior producer at 2K Games Melissa Miller verified this fact: “…our goal was always to make sure everything looked just as good as on Xbox 360. So there was never anybody who could say, hey, why didn’t I get this on 360 originally, because I don’t feel like it’s up to the visual quality. We’re just trying to make sure that everybody is happy.” To top it all off, the game is reported to have several graphical glitches, most notably being the blocky pixelation found on the textures of the iconic Big Daddies. Though these issues will be patched upon connection with PSN, it’s disappointing that the game won’t be in ideal condition out of the box.

Oh, and you might want to plan making a sandwich or something after you pop in the disc: the game requires a 5 gigabyte, 10 minute install before you can set foot in the first bathysphere.

It’s not all bad news, however: once everything’s patched and installed, PS3 owners will experience one of the finest console games ever crafted. The main story mode has not been touched—even that really easy part at the end, and the 30-second endings are still waaaay too insignificant for the grandiose storytelling that came before it. While some may argue that these things should have been adjusted, I still remember enjoying the game exponentially. Plus, last time I checked, fans don’t like it too much when you mess with things they like.

What 2K Games has added is an even harder difficulty setting, appropriately named “Survivor Mode,” made specifically for masochistic gamers. Also on the disc (and available as future DLC content) are a series of puzzle rooms, providing small chunks of Rapture-based challenges that aren’t tied to the main story. For example, one room has a Little Sister trapped on top of a Ferris wheel, and your goal is to help her safely back onto solid ground. These rooms will likely be the main draw for previous BioShock fans—hopefully they will also be available as DLC for Xbox 360 some day. The cherry on the deep-sea cake is trophy support for the more obsessive gamers out there.

Also, there’s a little game trailer on the extras list that fans of the series will probably enjoy, even though it’s all over the Internet now.

So should someone who owns the 360 version run out and buy a copy? Unless they can’t wait to see if the challenge rooms are released for Microsoft’s console, I’d say probably not; there’s not enough new material here to warrant another purchase.

But for those fortunate PS3 owners who have not yet been spoiled: would you kindly go out on October 21st and buy this game?